Obama Lets His People Go

First, we wonder if we could get a few of those guys hired to grub mesquite.

But, note, also, the part in there about the Jamaican who’s been in a detention center for 3 years. No, I said, "3 years." While he fights deportation. How much does that cost? How come a guy convicted of child abuse is allowed to stay here after the first conviction?

We are focused on five major themes: border security; a very simple improvement to the E-verify system as an alternative to a national identity card; clarity in anti-discrimination laws; an occupational visa category that our industry can use that could be tied to local or regional employment; and, options to effectively address the 11 million undocumented workers in the shadows of our economy.

To date much of the discussion has focused on the need to retain highly skilled workers such as scientists and engineers, and the need for additional temporary agricultural workers. These are important objectives, but they do not meet the needs of our industry sector. Our workers are neither highly skilled nor temporary. We are manufacturers, wanting a stable and permanent workforce that can help sustain the rural communities where we do business.

We don’t need to get off into public policy too much here, but if this country is going to enjoy a safety net that makes work unnecessary for survival, nobody is going to do the nasty work.

We’re not judging it right or wrong. Just factual.

There are millions of non-citizens who don’t have such safety nets. They are glad to have that nasty work to do. They are willing to risk their lives to do get the jobs you and our children don’t want.

And, adds Mr. Life-ain’t-no-bed-of-roses-in-these-parts, that’s without them seeing how little snow stayed on the wheat fields. Amarillo recorded hurricane-force wind gusts during the storm, after all. Even in the relatively small area hit with the biggest totals, the snow just sort of howdied the wheat as it headed for the fence rows. We graze the wheat in these parts and this year it is more accurate to say we "grazed" the wheat." There’s nothing sticking up to stop a snow flake.

Having just driven much of Texas, let your reporter report that there is not much on any wheat—or spring crop, for that matter—field to slow the snow between Amarillo and Austin.

So, it is safe to suggest that it is going to take more than a bit of snow to fix things. Thegovernment’s assessment of soil moisture isn’t pretty. And if you scroll over to the "anomaly" section, it still looks like somebody painted most of the country’s winter wheat counties red and tan.

Country folk: Hoist on our own pitchforks
We read the Daily Beast so you don’t have to, and we learn that Daniel Gross finds "poetic justice" in the impact that the budget sequestration would have on red states.

"Democrats view vegetarians favorably, 63-16 percent, while Republicans say the same only 38-30 percent. The divide was even starker for vegans: 48 percent of Democrats view vegans favorably while 22 percent do not; 31 percent of Republicans back vegans while another 41 percent view the animal product-abstainers unfavorably"

A note of caution, however. In this poll, Burger King outscores McDonald’s, but in the real world, McDonald’s enjoys a 50% market share and Burger King lags behind even Wendy’s.

California’s tax dollars at work
Agroup led by a philosophy major (so, Dad, what’s he going to do with that $200,000 degree?) is pushing for a vegan dining hall at another California college. Turns out the other one isn’t working too well. Too little demand. I’ll be darned.